Category: Latest News

Canada\’s outdated wine shipping laws were under the microscrope again today with no lesser body than the House of Commons pulled into the debate. It turns out that the House of Commons was planning to have a \”wine tasting reception\” for MPs and Senators later this year where they would compare wines from across Canada in order to select a house wine for the Commons. Wineries in BC were among those invited to ship samples direct to Ottawa. Of course, normally wineries can\’t ship out of province at all due to an ancient post-prohibition federal law which is still on the books. The law contains an exemption for the government but winery owners were understandably miffed when asked to do something for elected officials which the rest of us can\’t enjoy – the Vancouver Sun covers the story here. More coverage from the National Post here. Personally, I think it\’s great that the MPs and Senators want to sample Canadian wine – a comparison tasting of many Canadian wines is a fine idea. However, it doesn\’t leave a good impression when the elected officials are able to organize something which the rest of us are prohibited from doing. Maybe our elected officials should take a short break from non-confidence motions and think about changing the 1928 federal law which stops the rest of us from having similar tastings.

I wrote an op-ed piece for today\’s Vancouver Sun in which I argue that it\’s time for the BC government to get out of the retail side of the liquor and wine business. I have really only glossed over the myriad of problems in this piece but suffice to say, I think that British Columbia is long overdue for sweeping reform of both its retail liquor and wine distribution system and the related regulatory framework. Simply put: our government could make more money, grow the industry and have more effective liquor policy if it adopts broad changes. It\’s time to bring B.C.\’s liquor laws and retail system into the 21st century – and it\’s a perfect Olympic legacy project.

By the way and not surprisingly, the BCGEU\’s president, Darryl Walker, disagrees with me on these issues (which is fine). However, in a response on his web site, he labels me \”a lobbyist\”. Just FYI … I am not a lobbyist and have not been paid by anybody to advance my opinions. My opinions on reform of BC wine laws are solely motivated by the fact that I am passionate about wine and care about the wine industry.

British Columbia\’s inadequate wine laws were in the news again this weekend as the \”cellared in Canada\” issue got prominent coverage on CTV News, BCTV, the CBC and in the Vancouver Sun. This story is an important one because it relates to a long standing practice where some of B.C.\’s largest wineries sell imported wine with misleading packaging such that consumers think that it is B.C. wine. The LDB is complicit in this because they list and display these products as being from British Columbia when in reality they consist of almost all imported juice.

The full story on the cellared in Canada controversy is on my marketing site.

Ongoing issues between the BC Wine Institute and the operators of the VQA chain of retail stores have blown up yet again after the BCWI indicated that it intends to revoke the licenses of two VQA stores, Carol\’s Wines in Coquitlam and Arrowsmith Wine Shoppe in Parksville. The problems mostly arise from the patchwork nature of BC\’s retail licensing system which is long overdue for reform. Unfortunately, it looks like only government action in the form of a complete overhaul of the system will resolve these issues for the long term. The full story is here on my marketing site, winemarketing.ca.

As expected by many, the BC Budget for 2009 which was delivered yesterday did not contain any measures with immediately apparent impact on the wine industry. This was somewhat predictable since BC wine prices are now so high at retail that there really is no room for the government to try and extract additional revenue unless they reform the distribution system (more on that later). The one lingering issue is the implementation of the HST scheduled for next July. The combined HST rate on wine will be 12% which is actually 3% lower than the existing combined rates of 10% PST and 5% GST. As a result, there would be an actual reduction on the tax rates applicable to wine if the government does not act to increase retail prices by other means (such as increasing other fees or liquor board markups). The reduction in taxes is extremely small when compared to the usurious rates of liquor board markup (117%) and other fees. However, it will be interesting to see how the government handles the difference. Tax policy must be applied fairly and consistently as between imported and domestic wine. However, liquor board markup is currently not applied fairly so there is an interesting problem on the horizon. Maybe the government will just give consumers a break and let them have a 3% cut? Just wishful thinking.

I am co-chairing a conference (with Chris Wilson of Bull Housser & Tupper) on \”Winery and Wine Distribution Law.\” which is set for November 12 and 13 here in Vancouver. We have a great lineup of speakers from both the wine industry and the legal side. Plus we have a wine tasting scheduled for the Thursday evening with the incomparable team of Sid Cross and David Scholefield. The full program brochure is here.

There\’s a 50% discount on your registration fees if you are part of the winery business … just register online but choose the student/new job option to get the discount (the winery discount is set out in the \”Tuition\” part of the program brochure).

The Alberta liquor board (AGLC) has written to several BC wineries threatening them with criminal enforcement action if they continue shipping wine to Alberta. The letter states that shipping wine directly to individual customers in Alberta is illegal under both the federal Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (\”IILA\”) and the provincial Gaming and Liquor Act and Regulation. The AGLC claims that all liquor shipped into Alberta must be consigned and shipped to the AGLC. The AGLC action raises countless issues, some practical and political, as well as a number of legal issues.

John Schreiner covers the issues from the wineries perspective here.

The various legal issues (including a workaround for shipping and possible solutions) are discussed in this article on wine shipping law in Canada which I have updated to deal with the AGLC\’s actions.

I wrote the wine column in this month\’s edition of the Advocate (which is the magazine distributed to all lawyers in BC). Here\’s a link to a PDF of the column which discusses public policy relating to pricing and taxation of wine in British Columbia\’s retail distribution system. I have also thrown in some wine recommendations which reflect my take on wines available in BC which are actually good deals in terms of global pricing and quality.

Good article in today\’s Times-Colonist on the need to reform B.C. liquor laws, specifically the \”tied house\” restrictions which impose strict limits on business when a person owns both an interest in a liquor manufacturer (such as a winery or brewery) and a retail establishment (such as a restaurant, bar or store). These antiquated laws (which date from post-prohibition times) prevent the owner of Lighthouse Brewing in Victoria from selling his own beer in his own bar, the Podium Sports Grill. They also prevent the Bishop family from selling their own wine (made at Carbrea winery on Hornby Island) at their restaurant at Seabreeze Lodge.

As the article points out, the original purpose of these laws was to prevent vertical control of the liquor industry such that major players would not limit choice at the retail level. However, times have changed … and there are certainly better ways to address these concerns, even if they are still valid.

Similar laws were the subject of intense criticism in Washington state, which recently reformed them so as to solve issues like the ones noted above. British Columbia could also reform its laws … it just takes the political will to do so.

In late breaking news this afternoon, Premier Stelmach of Alberta announced that he is reversing the liquor tax hikes that were implemented in the recent April budget. The hikes had added 75 cents to Alberta\’s flat tax on a bottle of wine, increasing the total tax to $3.00 per bottle. Stelmach indicated that he had been uncomfortable with the increases all along.